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Researchers have discovered that listening to a mantra slows down parts of the brain used in day-to-day activity letting emotional awareness takes over.

Uttam Kumar of the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow, India, told the Sunday Times: ‘Listening to the ‘Om’ sound … activates areas of the bilateral cerebellum, left middle frontal gyrus and right precuneus.’

Publishing his findings in the journal Cognition and Emotion, he added that ‘Om’ was the best sound to make when meditating.

The 21 men involved in the research also listened to the word ‘Tommm’, but that didn’t do anything to relax them.